Gun-house and the like.



roe. SAFES, BANK PROTECTION an sumo DEVlCES. )M

*2? I STATES PATENT onnron.

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' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 13, 1907.

To all wkmri it mam- Be it knownthat 1, ROBERT A. Habrmnn, asubject of the King Of Great Britain, and a resident of Sheifield,

Now the present invention has reference inter al'ia to houses made in onepiece. with the necessary port :holes for guns, sighting and other purposes, and of such shape externally that projectiles oil-striking the same prepared, cast steel of such comprsition as will offer great resistance'to penetration. For purpose Ike steel used should preferably be my special, nickel chromium alloy steel low in carbon and free irom or low in pheric temperature so as to'avoid any strains that might be brought about by afterwards reheating it annealing treatment so that itwill be in a sufiiciently removed if thishas not already beenidone.) The gun housepisltheniheated to from 7 C.ito:850G.,jusually manganese, and technically termed f Era steel. The I from thecold. Or it be submitted to a partial.

. county of York, England, have invented an Improvecarbon may vary from about 0.25% up to about .6%,

.5 ment in Gun-Houses and the Like,'-of which the follow-' the chromium from about 0.25 up to about 5.0 and ing descriptionis a specification.- the nickel from about 0.25% up toabout 7.0%. Man- Gun housesand other similarstructuresdesigned for ganese, while preferably kept low,'n1ay go up to about useon board. war ships and iniorts to withstand the at 0,45% Silicon and aluminium may be advantatack of projectiles of various natures, are. at. present geously added separately or in conjunction for the purbuilt up obanumber of'hard rolled or forged pose of producing-sounder and better steel. The sili- .I steel plates,v.s uch as Krupp cemented plates, suitably con should not'usually exceed about 0.4%, ordinarily secured together by fastening devices such as bolts, about 0.1% and aluminium up to about as high as 0.4% I {keys orthe like, these being'driven in at great expense but ordinarilyabout 0.2 Su'ch steel can also ad- 'and even" when so donethey'do not give a very.satis-- vantageously be used for plates such as plain fiat plates, factory. fastening. Such built'up structures are how-' deck plates, curved platesand other sections cast into ever open tovarious practical objections. They are form, Excellent steel for the purpose can'be produced very costly,- owing to the mode of manufacture adopted :by melting in a cupola, ordinary hematite'pig iron of in-therformation of t he'plates with the necessary port good 'quality, running the molten metal into a con- I and other holes, which have'to be formedby verter, decarbo nizing and desiliconizing it, then add- 20 orcutting out, arid, owing to-the mode of assembling'and ing, preferably in a'molten orhighly pro-heated condi-' L-- connecting the plates together, and to the shapeof the tion, sufiicient ferro-chromium and nickel to obtain plates adopted, (which, when rolled or iorged,can only steel of the following composition which is given as an beibeut or cambered with greatdiificultyvand; expense) example of manufacture: carbon about 0.35%, silicon theyd'o not offer the most effective surface for-resisting about 0.12%, chromium about 1.7 ,nickel about 3.3% 30 v ,2 55fthe action of projectiles but, on the contrary, are liable manganese about 0.35%, sulfur and phosphorus about receive by impact di heavy projectiles,.concussive 0.05% each.v i

shocks of such magnitude as to cause fracture of th e ias- The cast house is then preferably removed from tning devices and thereby displacement of the plates the mold while hot and cooled down very slowly. Or I I or even complete "collapse of the whole structure. 0 the cooling may be arrested before it reaches atmoswill be liable to be thrown ofi 'or deflectedsidewise condition to allow of its being reducedtoatmos- 85 thereby ina more certain and effectivemanner than pheric temperature, when the [casting is fettled or I .lieretofore, whereby I am enabled to produce, at acorn cleaned and, if desired, the heads or runners out ofi. paratively-moderate cost, gun houses better adapted to- Its partial heat treatment, may also consist in putting successfully withstand the attack of projectiles than it into'atemporarily hot annealingfurnace and allowgun houses of about similar thickness constructed as ing'it to cool downto about 300 C. j The gun house is 4Qliereinbefore described. For this purpose, a gun house then, eitherwhen not previously cooled down at all, according to this invention is made in one piece of my 'or when cooled down after the'partial' annealing treatimproved or Era cast steel of dome or equivalent ment, submitted to the"f ollowingspecial heat treat A shape externally, that is to say of convex or rounded ment. It is put into a furnace which is'then' heated to shape in all directions, and closed in all round, 'with the a high temperature, say between 900 C. and 1100 C. 45 exception of the necessary holes'or apertures for guns, I The gun house is then withdrawn from the furnace as sighting, and'like purposes. For producing such a gun soon as the requisite temperature has been reached house, which may be of considerable weight, say for exand cooled in theopen air. Where the greatest pos-' ample onehundre'd tons or more,-a mold is madeof suit-; sible toughness is required, it is necessary, in order to able compositionsuch as fire resisting sand, or what is get the best results, to withdraw the gun house from '50 known as steel molding composition, dried in the usual :the furnace as stated, and cool it in such a manner that way and having internally the formation of the intendits rate of cooling will proceed more quickly than if it ed finished gun house with one or more holes or'aperbe left in the furnace. The coolingmay, of course, be tures for one or more guns and for other purposes, and effected in the furnace if desired, but cooling in the the gun house is formed by pouring into the mold so external air is preferred. The heads or risers are then 11( temperature depending upon the particular composition of the steel used, and allowed to cool in the furnacc.- It is then reheated to between 570 C. and 640 C. and quenched outright, preferably in water. In this way a'gun house of very high efficiency in resisting gun fire can be produced.

If it is desired to render agun house-such as described hard on its outer surface, it is suitably carbonized where required. For this purpose the cast gun house is put into a furnace and upon its surface a suit- 7 able, carbonizing medium for example carbon is placed. The furnace is then raised to 'a high temperature, say between 900 C. and l100 (Land the gun house allowed to remain therein for several days, the actual period ,depending upon the extent to'ivhich the carbonizing is to be carried. The gun house is then allowed to cool gradually down. This is usually done in the furnace, but may be done in the open air, though the latter method is chiefly preferable for noncarbonized articles. After this treatment, the heads or risers are removed and the gun house subjected to the heat treatment hereinbefore described, commencing in heating it to 700 C. to 850- C. the final quenching outright of the gun house in water or other cooling medium, it is taper heated, that is to say, it is heated so that the face or-outer side assumes a temperature of from 700 C. to 770 0., tapering to a temperature at the inner side of from 400 C. to 600 (1., whereupon the gun house is dipped in or sprayed with oil or water, according to the hardness required, so

40 that the outer side, being hotter than the inner side,

will become hard while the inner side remains soft and I tcfiigh.v In some cases, as for example when a very soft steel is used, that is to say, one low in carbon, a uniform instead of a ftaper heating may be adopted for the face hardening treatment.

Owing to the disposition of the material and its extraordinary toughness and tenacity, as compared withmild steel, most excellent results are obtained by the treatment first described without its being necessary A to carbonize or make hard the face of the article.

Gun houses designed for use in land forts, as well as on war ships, manifestly can be constructed in the manner described.

In this case, aftersea,oes

used on war ships, may also, according to the present I invention, be manufactured in the manner and of like material to that hereinbefore described with reference to gun houses. The towers will preferably be ofoval or like shape in horizontal section and of upwardly tapering shape with a rounded 'or convex roof or head, so as nowhere to present a fiat surface for attack of projectiles but any suitable shape can be employed.

The construction of gun houses and other. protective structures of cast steel having such a composition as hereinbefore set forth and treated as described is of great advantage owing to equal strength' and tough ness effected in all directions of the structure.

Wrought stee'l varies in strength and toughness accordingto the way in which it is forged, hammered or.

tions, whether longitudinal or transverse.

In all cases, the fact of being able to produce by my invention, a material of the desired composition and quality, makes it possible to dispose and apply cast products in such a way as enables the naval architect to introduce forms and shapes that would otherwise be impracticable, and which in ordinary steel, even if cast, would not be of sufficient practical value to permit of their employment on war and other ships.

Having described my invention, what I .claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a gun house or the like formed of nickel chromium steel cast as an integral structure ofthe form in which it is to be used, heated to a; temperature-of between 900 C. and 1100" (3., and thereafter cooled in the air, then heated to a lower temperature, and finally quenched in a cooling liquid.

2.. As a. new article of manufacturan gun house or the like formed of nickel chromium. steel cast as an integral structure of the form in which it is to be used, the casting being slowly cooled down to a temperature above that of the atmosphere, heated to a predetermined high temperature and slowly cooled, reheated to a lower temperature, and finally cooled by quenching.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a gun house or the like formed of nickel chromium steel cast as an integral structure of the form in which it is to be used, the casting being slowly cooled down to about 300 'C., then heated to a temperature of between 900 C. andJ1100 C. and slowly cooled, reheated to a lower. temperature, and. finally quenched in a cooling liquid. In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to'thls specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT A; HADl-lELD.

-\\'itnesses 

